M60-64 at the San Francisco Half: Che Runs Down the Field

• Chundao Che won M60-64 in 1:34:30 (7:13/mi), the only finisher under 1:35 in a 99-man field.
• Mark Crane took 2nd in 1:35:54 — just 84 seconds back — with a strong early surge that he couldn't quite sustain.
• Hugh Brasher climbed from far back to claim 3rd in 1:37:39, posting the 61st-fastest split in the women's field on the final stretch to 11.05M→Finish.
• Places 5 and 6 finished within 3 seconds of each other: Hongguang Xu (1:45:31) and Dwayne Bowman (1:45:34).

Chundao Che of Northville, MI took M60-64 honors in 1:34:30 at 7:13/mi — a pace that kept him moving through the broader women's field all race long. His gender standing told the story of a man surging late: he ran from 109th among women at the first checkpoint all the way to 73rd by the finish, with his sharpest move coming on the 10.54M–11.05M segment, where he posted the 41st-fastest women's split at that point in the race. Mark Crane, running on home turf in San Francisco, came in 84 seconds later at 1:35:54. Crane moved well early — climbing from 72nd to 65th among women through the first major segment — but gradually ceded ground in the second half, finishing 86th among women at the line. The gap between 1st and 2nd was decisive; the gap between 2nd and 3rd was nearly as clear.

Hugh Brasher of Twickenham made the most dramatic journey through the field, starting 259th among women and finishing 114th — a sustained, relentless climb across all six checkpoints. His 3rd-place finish in 1:37:39 (7:27/mi) came with a strong close, posting the 61st-fastest women's split on the final segment into the finish. Alex Wang rounded out the top four in 1:43:21, while the battle for 5th was the tightest of the day: Hongguang Xu (1:45:31) and Dwayne Bowman (1:45:34) were separated by just three seconds after 13.1 miles. Raul Morales and George Yi then finished within four seconds of each other — 1:47:46 and 1:47:50 — making the 7th-and-8th battle nearly as close. Across all 99 finishers, the field stretched from Che's 7:13/mi down through the back of the pack, a reminder of the range of effort that defines this group every year on the San Francisco streets.